Two valid accounting questions

Territorial accounting assigns emissions to the country where fossil fuels are burned and industrial processes occur. Consumption-based accounting starts with that total, subtracts emissions embodied in exports and adds emissions embodied in imports. The second method follows demand through international trade.

Consumption footprint = territorial emissions − exported emissions + imported emissions

Neither method is universally “correct.” Territorial data align closely with national production and many climate commitments. Consumption data help reveal whether a country’s lifestyle depends on carbon-intensive production elsewhere.

What the latest series shows

The Global Carbon Budget series distributed by Our World in Data reports global consumption-based CO₂ of 4.73 tonnes per person for 2024. Latest national observations available for 2023 include 15.81 tonnes in the United States, 13.23 in Canada, 14.07 in Australia, 7.63 in China, 5.44 in Spain and 1.85 in Morocco.

These values are national averages. They do not describe the footprint of every household, and they exclude important greenhouse gases and some emissions categories. They are useful for comparing one dimension of carbon responsibility, not for calculating a visitor’s personal footprint.

Why trade adjustment matters

A country can reduce domestic heavy industry while continuing to consume imported steel, electronics, clothing and other carbon-intensive goods. Territorial emissions may fall even when the consumption footprint falls less—or rises. Export-oriented producers can show the reverse pattern.

Why carbon has a zero weight

Humain Alert places carbon beside suicide, homicide, expression and child vulnerability because environmental pressure shapes human wellbeing. It presents these indicators separately without an overall score. Choosing a normalization ceiling and weight would create a moral exchange rate between physical emissions and human harm that the project cannot justify.

Reading rules

  • Check whether the figure is territorial or consumption-based.
  • Keep the unit as tonnes per person.
  • Separate CO₂ from all greenhouse gases.
  • Read national averages with inequality in mind.
  • Use multi-year trends before interpreting one annual change.

Primary sources and data

Evidence note: Sources were checked on 7 Sep 2026. Publication years differ because each institution follows its own release schedule. Humain Alert preserves those dates instead of presenting the series as simultaneous.